scholarly journals “Look at What They’ve Turned Us Into”: Reading the Story of Lot’s Daughters with Trauma Theory and The Handmaid’s Tale

Open Theology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 208-223
Author(s):  
Kirsi Cobb
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Trauma Theory ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Direct Trauma

Abstract The story of Lot’s daughters’ incest with their father in Genesis 19:30–38 has been variously understood as a myth, a trickster tale, and an androcentric phantasy. In this paper, I will use insights gained from trauma theory, as well as from the characters of Emily and Moira in the Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, to evaluate the daughters’ actions. Studying the characters in the final form of the text, the women undergo traumatic experiences as their father offers their bodies to be raped (Gen. 19:7–8) and they witness the destruction of their home (Gen. 19:24–25). Consequently, they engage in what could be described as a traumatic re-enactment with their father, where the roles of the perpetrator and the victim are reversed, and the continuation of the patriarchal line is simultaneously guaranteed. Read in conjunction with the fates of Emily and Moira, the daughters’ experience could be summarized in Emily’s observation, “Look at what they’ve turned us into.” In the lives of all the women, the experience of cumulative and direct trauma influenced their decision making as well as the choices they had available. This leaves the audience in a moment of uncertainty, where evaluating the women’s actions becomes a complex, even an impossible prospect.

Traumatic Experiences and Juvenile Amenability: The Role of Trauma in Forensic Evaluations and Judicial Decision Making

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 363-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina L. Riggs Romaine ◽  
Naomi E. Sevin Goldstein ◽  
Elizabeth Hunt ◽  
David DeMatteo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Judicial Decision ◽  
Judicial Decision Making ◽  
Forensic Evaluations

scholarly journals Past trauma and future choices: differences in discounting in low-income, urban African Americans

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (16) ◽  
pp. 2702-2709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carissa van den Berk-Clark ◽  
Joel Myerson ◽  
Leonard Green ◽  
Richard A. Grucza
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Substance Dependence ◽  
Intertemporal Choice ◽  
Severe Trauma ◽  
Risky Choice ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms

AbstractBackgroundExposure to traumatic events is surprisingly common, yet little is known about its effect on decision making beyond the fact that those with post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to have substance-abuse problems. We examined the effects of exposure to severe trauma on decision making in low-income, urban African Americans, a group especially likely to have had such traumatic experiences.MethodParticipants completed three decision-making tasks that assessed the subjective value of delayed monetary rewards and payments and of probabilistic rewards. Trauma-exposed cases and controls were propensity-matched on demographic measures, treatment for psychological problems, and substance dependence.ResultsTrauma-exposed cases discounted the value of delayed rewards and delayed payments, but not probabilistic rewards, more steeply than controls. Surprisingly, given previous findings that suggested women are more affected by trauma when female and male participants’ data were analyzed separately, only the male cases showed steeper delay discounting. Compared with nonalcoholic males who were not exposed to trauma, both severe trauma and alcohol-dependence produced significantly steeper discounting of delayed rewards.ConclusionsThe current study shows that exposure to severe trauma selectively affects fundamental decision-making processes. Only males were affected, and effects were observed only on discounting delayed outcomes (i.e. intertemporal choice) and not on discounting probabilistic outcomes (i.e. risky choice). These findings are the first to show significant differences in the effects of trauma on men's and women's decision making, and the selectivity of these effects has potentially important implications for treatment and also provides clues as to underlying mechanisms.

scholarly journals What Does Trauma Have to Do with Politics? Cultural Trauma and the Displaced Founding Political Elites of Israel and Turkey

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shai M. Dromi ◽  
Gülay Türkmen
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Trauma ◽  
Trauma Theory ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
People's Party ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Academic Publications ◽  
Political Factions ◽  
Democratic Elections

Recent political events, such as Brexit and Trump’s election, have inspired talk of collective trauma in academic publications and news outlets. Yet, scholars have been unclear about the processes that transform mundane political events into collective traumatic experiences. In this article, we ask how political factions come to interpret election outcomes as a trauma. We draw on cultural trauma theory to examine the ways state-founding political elites interpret their election losses. We show that such elites commemorate the loss by employing narratives that depict them as victims of unjust political processes, and simultaneously provide them with a sense of moral superiority. This enduring self-conception hinders subsequent efforts to draw new supporters or to change political strategies. We demonstrate this process using two empirical cases: the Israeli Labor Party and the Turkish Republican People’s Party, both of whom dominated their respective nations for decades until they were ousted through democratic elections. We suggest that cultural trauma theory can illuminate the reasons for some of the political deadlocks that shape newly founded democracies’ policies.

Healing Worldwide Wounds- Applied Trauma Theory and Relational Dynamics

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Bathory
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Psychological Trauma ◽  
Trauma Theory ◽  
Group Interventions ◽  
Relational Dynamics ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Biological Substrates

Psychological trauma has been explored to better understand the developmental, cognitive, psychodynamic, social, neuro-biological and chemical consequences due to exposure. Large populations who are exposed to trauma are often studied for their development of subsequent symptoms and psychopathology, but non-pathological and group interventions are infrequently addressed. Applied Trauma Theory (Bathory, 2013b) provides a means and structure for applying theory into practice for non-pathological responses in trauma subjected factions. By incorporating the research from the field of trauma, correlations from neurobiology and psychological applications a culturally customized intervention may be created. Sotero's Model of Historical Trauma discusses a heightened resiliency that occurs due to exposure to traumatic events (Sotero, 2006). Augmenting these models of trauma to adjoin culturally significant values provides a means of creating interventions that are potentially able to help vast numbers of people (such as populations exposed to war and disasters). This paper reviews the biological substrates of trauma, the roles of two major neurotransmitters (norepinephrine and dopamine), and their psychological expression in regard to age and cultural influences. This paper explores the underlying principles of Relational Dynamics and its' influence on decision making. Finally it notes applications that address the needs of large numbers of people exposed to trauma, and potential uses and misuses of this theory.

scholarly journals Contemporary Trauma Theory and Trauma-Informed Care in Substance Use Disorders: A Conceptual Model for Integrating Coping and Resilience

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Revital Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Substance Use Disorders ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Trauma Theory ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Trauma Informed Care ◽  
Trauma Informed

National data of children’s exposure to traumatic experiences are alarming. Research asserts the interconnectedness between experiencing childhood trauma (CT) or adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and developing substance use disorders (SUDs) in later adulthood. Trauma definition and contemporary trauma theory (CTT) provide the foundation for trauma informed care (TIC) in social work practice with co-occurring trauma and SUDs. TIC re-conceptualizes SUDs as a mechanism to cope with the effects of trauma. Coping and resilience are relevant factors to the ramifications of CT on SUDs, and are the manifestation of key TIC principles. Integrating TIC practices aimed at enhancing coping and resilience into treatment for co-occurring trauma and SUDs is needed in order to negate the devastating impact of trauma and propel recovery. Conclusions and implications to social work practice are discussed.   

scholarly journals A Study of Traumatic Experiences of Female Characters in Sophia Khan’s Novel “Yasmeen”

sjesr ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 275-281
Author(s):  
Mehreen Zafar ◽  
Dr. Muhammad Ahsan ◽  
Dr. Zahoor Hussain
Keyword(s):  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Psychological Trauma ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Trauma Theory ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Trauma Fiction

The current study aims to explore the traumatic experiences of female characters of Sophia Khan’s Yasmeen. M. Balaev (2014) identified “the concept of trauma as pathological and unspeakable” in the genre of trauma fiction. The insights Bloom’s Psychological Trauma Theory (1999) provided the theoretical framework for the descriptive and critical textual analysis of the novel which in turn disclosed the traumatic experiences of leading female characters, Yasmeen, Irenie, Celeste and Mehrunissa. The current study is in the qualitative paradigm of research and suggested through findings that the female characters are suffering from various traumatic experiences resulted through the loss, distrust, immoral values, and re-enactment; the teenage young characters, Irenie and Celeste can dilute the trauma by dissociating the emotions whereas Yasmeen and Mehrunissa, the adult characters cannot cope their traumatic experiences.  Though the traumatic experiences of all characters are separate in content and degree but the traumatic experiences of ‘Evolution’s legacy’, emotions of loss, and ‘Learned helpless’, constrained actions, are common to all female characters.

scholarly journals The imprint of trauma on family relationships: an enquiry into what may trouble a ‘troubled family’ and its implications for whole-family services

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 463-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Tew
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Family Support ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
National Study ◽  
Family Services ◽  
Recovery Capital ◽  
Relational Systems ◽  
The Impact

For some families facing complex difficulties, an underlying issue can be the impact of traumatic experiences, such as child abuse or domestic violence. While the impact of trauma on individuals is relatively well understood, its impact on the functioning of family or relational systems is less well theorised. This article takes forward the development of an original theoretical framework by which to understand both the impact of trauma at a collective level and the resources that people may need in order for them to overcome its legacy ‐ building principally building on concepts of family schema and recovery capital. This discussion is grounded in the practice context of whole-family support and decision-making services, and is explored through an analysis of narrative data obtained as part of a wider national study into whole-family approaches.

scholarly journals Psychological Ramifications of Trauma in Women as Represented in Shahnaz Bashir’s The Half Mother

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 139-150
Author(s):  
Dr Zeenat Khan
Keyword(s):  
Single Mother ◽  
Trauma Theory ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Nineteen Nineties ◽  
The World

Trauma is a subjective and extensive term with its diverse implications on individuals and consequently on the societies. Also the heterogeneity of traumatic experiences, cannot be over-simplified by putting them under one blanket term or generalising all of them into one bracket. Since nineteen nineties, owing to several reasons,  the term trauma has picked up an impetus, and various studies in this area of discourse are being carried out. Recently only however homogenising of all the traumatic experience into the countable postulates of Literary Trauma Theory is being challenged by the scholars and academicians across the world. In this paper, trauma of an individual (who is a single mother) and a society (of Kashmir) through the reading of Shahnaz Bashir’s The Half Mother is explored. This paper shall try to map the mindscape of the protagonist Haleema and parallelly observe the cultural ramifications of the same.

scholarly journals A Bolt from the Blue in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 96-105
Author(s):  
M. Meghaa ◽  
Shobha Ramaswamy
Keyword(s):  
Nobel Prize ◽  
Trauma Theory ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
The Novel ◽  
World War ◽  
Kazuo Ishiguro ◽  
English Writing ◽  
The World ◽  
Artistic Works ◽  
The Mind

Kazuo Ishiguro, receiver of the Nobel Prize for Literature in the year 2017, isa Nagasaki-born writer. He developed his writing career in the year 1982 and many of his novels have historical contextual ideas. The literary attributes of Ishiguro's works are acknowledged for his uniqueness in English writing and method. It blends the sequence of the plot, to the extraordinary subjectivity of the portrayal, and to the historical sensitivity which truly interweaves with the depictions.The nostalgic and evocative characteristics of his writings make him the master of prodigious artistic works. The renowned novel of Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day, which bagged him the prestigious Booker Prize in the year 1989, portrays the psychological niceties associated with the protagonist of the novel, Stevens.  Stevens is a butler who works under an aristocrat whom he revered the most at the beginning but later he was betrayed by knowing the facts of his lordship being associated with the Nazis during the World War.  Through the Trauma Theory this paper anatomizes the traumatic experiences of the mind, ramifications of thoughts and also the restrained dealings of human nature.This theory investigates the effect of trauma in writings and society, by examining its mental, logical, and social criticalness.The novel relocates the inherent presence of the theory throughplenteous incidents and contemplates on Stevens’ thoughts.  

Bloodlands Fiction: Cultural Trauma Politics and the Memory of Soviet Atrocities inBreaking Stalin's Nose,A Winter's Day in 1939andBetween Shades of Gray

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Oziewicz
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Trauma Theory ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Cognitive Effects ◽  
History And Memory ◽  
Holocaust Studies ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Textual Strategies ◽  
Trauma Fiction ◽  
Bear Witness

The field of trauma theory emerged in the 1990s out of the confluence of psychoanalysis, deconstruction and Holocaust studies. It soon consolidated into a trauma paradigm with hegemonic pretensions, which was ill-equipped to recognise traumatic experiences of non-Western and postcolonial groups or nations. It likewise tended to dismiss from trauma fiction any narratives that deviated from the aporetic model of normative trauma aesthetic. These limitations were exposed by the postcolonial turn in history and memory studies, which made it incumbent upon trauma theory to expand its focus to other literatures that bear witness to the so-far neglected, minoritarian trauma traditions. This essay introduces one such tradition, which is the recently emerged body of historical fiction about Soviet deportations, atrocities, genocide and other forms of persecution meant to subdue or eliminate entire ethnic or national groups in Eastern Europe between 1930 and the late 1950s. The genre of Bloodlands fiction, as I have called it elsewhere,1first exploded in national literatures of Eastern Europe in the mid-1990s, after fifty years of suppression of cultural memory under the Communist regimes. About a decade later works of Bloodlands fiction became available in English, often written by diaspora authors. Starting with a challenge to the conventional definition of trauma fiction, this essay argues for a wider model that accommodates genres including Bloodlands fiction. Readings of Breaking Stalin's Nose (2013) by Russian American Eugene Yelchin, A Winter's Day in 1939 (2013) by Polish New Zealander Melinda Szymanik and Between Shades of Gray (2011) by Lithuanian American Ruta Sepetys are used to illustrate some of the key features, textual strategies and cognitive effects of Bloodlands fiction as a genre of global trauma fiction.

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